JPH08233443A - Heat insulating door for refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To make a mounting groove inconspicuous even when a heat insulating door is opened by making a cutting to form the mounting groove for mounting a switch contact selectively at both rear end side parts of the internal surface of an upper door cap or a lower door cap. CONSTITUTION: A switch contact 29 which contacts a door switch to turn it ON is mounted selectively in a mounting groove 30 which is formed by cutting at both rear end side parts of the internal surface of an upper door cap forming the top surface of a heat insulating door 21 or a lower door cap 26 forming the undersurface thereof. Then, a retaining pawl 32 is formed at the tip of one 29a of two grasping pieces, upper and lower, 29a and 29b by which the mounting groove 30 is grasped from the top and bottom thereof to mount the switch contact 29 on the door cap 26 and the retaining pawl 32 is retained elastically in a lock groove 33 for preventing sliding off formed in the mounting groove 30 to lock the switch contact 29. This contrive makes the mounting groove 30 inconspicuous even when the heat insulating door is opened and simplifies the mounting work of the switch contact 29.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heat-insulating door of a refrigerator, and more particularly to a mounting structure for each switch which is operated by a door switch for controlling lighting of an interior light and stopping operation of a cool air circulation fan.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a freezer refrigerator, which is an example of a conventional refrigerator, a freezer compartment, a refrigerator compartment, and a vegetable compartment are each formed in a partition, but recently, in consideration of the frequency of use, the refrigerator has been selected from the top. , Some have a partition for the freezer and the vegetable compartment.

In such a recent freezer / refrigerator, for example, a heat insulating door is pivotally attached to the refrigerating compartment, and a heat insulating door also serving as a drawer is provided in the freezer compartment and the vegetable compartment. It should be noted that each of these heat-insulating doors is formed with a rectangular projecting portion that enters the front opening of a refrigerating room or the like when closed, and a door packing is attached so as to surround this projecting portion. The door packing allows each chamber to be closed when the heat insulating door is closed.

On the other hand, the refrigerating room is provided with a door switch for controlling the lighting of the inside light. When the heat insulating door is opened, the door switch is turned on to turn on the inside light and close the heat insulating door. And the door switch is turned off and the interior light is turned off. The door switch is provided on the door pivot side of the side edge of the front opening so as to be inconspicuous when the door is opened.

A door switch for controlling the operation of the cooling air circulation fan is provided in the freezer compartment and the vegetable compartment. When the heat insulating door is pulled out and opened, the door switch is turned on and driven until then. The cold air circulation fan that circulates the cool air inside the room stops its operation, and when the heat insulating door is closed, the door switch is turned off and the cold air circulation fan resumes operation. The door switch is provided on the side of the upper edge of the front opening so as to be inconspicuous when the door is opened.

By the way, since the heat insulation door of the refrigerating room can be opened rightward or leftward depending on the place of installation, the mounting position of the door switch also changes depending on the opening / closing direction of the door. It is like this. The door switch mounting position may change in the freezer compartment and the vegetable compartment.

On the other hand, at the rear end of the upper door cap forming the upper surface of the heat insulating door or the lower door cap forming the lower surface, a switch contact for hitting the door switch and causing the door switch to perform a switch operation is attached. However, when the mounting position of the door switch is changed, it is necessary to change the mounting position for each switch. For this reason, conventionally, it is possible to change the mounting position for each switch by forming notches for mounting the switch contact on both sides of the rear end of the outer surface of the door cap where the switch contact is mounted. ing.

[0008]

However, in such a conventional refrigerator, when the switch contact is attached to the upper door cap, for example, one attachment groove formed on the upper surface of the door cap is closed by the switch contact. It is inconspicuous because it peels off, but the other mounting groove becomes a recess when the heat insulating door is opened and becomes noticeable. For this reason,
Conventionally, this mounting groove is hidden by a blind plate, but this has a problem that the number of assembling steps and the number of parts are increased.

In order to solve this problem, it is conceivable to mold a door cap having only one mounting groove on the left or right, but when molding such a door cap, for example, two mounting caps are mounted. The manufacturing cost is high because it is necessary to prepare a mold for forming the groove and another mold for closing one mounting groove, and the position of the mold must be changed in order to change the mounting groove to be closed. Another problem is that it is time-consuming and time-consuming.

On the other hand, in order to fix the switch contact in the mounting groove formed by cutting out the rear end of the outer surface of the door cap, the switch stopper is mounted in the mounting groove and then screwed. There is a problem in that it is troublesome to fix each switch by fixing with screws.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in order to solve such a problem, and provides a heat insulating door of a refrigerator which is not visible when opened and has a mounting groove for easy mounting per switch. It is intended to be provided.

[0012]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a heat insulating door for a refrigerator, which comprises an upper door cap and a lower door cap forming upper and lower surfaces of the heat insulating door, and an inner surface of the upper door cap or the lower door cap. Mounting grooves formed in notches on both sides of the rear end, a switch contact that is selectively mounted in the mounting groove and operates to switch the door switch, and the inner surface rear end portions of the upper door cap and the lower door cap. A door frame which is attached by abutting the upper and lower ends of the door to form a rear edge of the heat insulating door and holds a door packing that closely adheres to an edge of the front opening, while holding the switch contact together with the door cap. It is equipped with and.

A heat insulating door of a refrigerator according to a second aspect of the present invention has an upper door cap and a lower door cap that form an upper surface and a lower surface of the heat insulating door, and both sides of an inner surface rear end of the upper door cap or the lower door cap. Mounting groove with notch,
The heat-insulating door, which is selectively attached to the attachment groove for contacting the door switch to perform a switch operation, and is attached with the upper end and the lower end abutting the inner surface rear end portions of the upper door cap and the lower door cap. And a door frame that holds the door packing that is in close contact with the edge of the front opening and that holds the switch contact together with the door cap. It is provided with two upper and lower claw pieces for sandwiching the switch contact with the door cap, and at the tip of one claw piece, a locking claw that is elastically locked in a retaining groove formed in the mounting groove. It has been formed.

[0014]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a switch switch is operated according to the opening and closing of the heat insulation door to control the lighting of the inside light and the operation stop control of the cool air circulation fan. The upper door cap that forms the upper surface of the heat insulating door or the lower door cap that forms the lower surface is selectively mounted in mounting grooves formed on both sides of the rear end of the inner surface. Then, the switch stopper mounted in the mounting groove is mounted by bringing the upper end and the lower end into contact with the rear end portions of the inner surface of the door cap and the upper door cap and the lower door cap to form the rear edge portion of the heat insulating door. It is held by a door frame that holds a door packing that closely adheres to the edge of the front opening.

According to the invention of claim 2, in addition to the operation of the invention of claim 1, the upper and lower two holding pieces provided for each switch sandwich the mounting groove from above and below to attach the switch contact to the door cap. The locking claw formed at the tip of one of the holding pieces is elastically locked in the retaining groove formed in the mounting groove to prevent the switch from coming off.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a refrigerator-freezer having a heat insulating door of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a main body having a heat insulating structure (hereinafter referred to as a main body), and the main body 1 is formed by filling a foamed heat insulating material 4 between an inner box 2 and an outer box 3 whose front faces are open. It is supposed to be done. Further, inside the main body 1, a refrigerating chamber 5, a freezing chamber 6 and a vegetable chamber 7 are sequentially formed from the top by partition walls 8 and 8a having a heat insulating structure. 9 is a shelf provided in the refrigerator compartment 5.

On the other hand, a cooler 10 is provided behind the freezer compartment 6.
A cooling chamber 12 in which a fan 11 for circulating cold air is arranged is formed, and an ice greenhouse 13 defined by a heat insulating shelf 9a is provided below the refrigerating chamber 5. Further, a cold air duct 14 is disposed behind the cold storage chamber 5, and the cold air from the cooler 12 is blown out by the cold air duct 14 from a cold air blowout hole 15 provided in the cold storage chamber 5. The passage 16 is formed. Further, between the ice greenhouse 13 and the inner box 2, cold air from the cooler 10 is supplied to the cold air supply passage 16 for the refrigerating room and a damper chamber 18 in which a damper 17 is arranged is formed in the center of the inside. A damper case 19 having a heat insulating property, which is formed of expanded polystyrene or the like, is provided.

An insulating door 20 is pivotally attached to the refrigerating compartment 5, and an insulating door 21 also serving as a drawer is provided in the freezing compartment 6 and the vegetable compartment 7. Here, the heat insulating doors 21 also serving as the drawers are the same as the heat insulating doors 20 of the refrigerating chamber 5, but as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a steel material such as stainless steel forming the front surface and both side surfaces of the heat insulating doors 21 is used. And an outer panel 22 formed by molding, an inner panel 24 formed by a resin or the like that forms a rear surface of the heat insulating door 20 and integrally formed with a protrusion 23, and is attached to upper and lower ends of the outer panel 22. The upper and lower door caps 25 and 26 that form the top and bottom surfaces of the heat insulating door 21, both side ends to the outer panel 22, and the upper and lower ends to the inner surface rear end portions of the upper and lower door caps 25 and 26. The rear edge of the heat-insulating door 21 is formed in contact with the door packing 27, and the door packing 27 is formed around the protruding portion 23 of the inner panel 24.
And a door frame 28 for mounting. The inner panel 24 is connected to the outer panel 2 via the door frame 28.
2 and upper and lower door caps 25, 26.

Reference numeral 29 denotes a switch contact made of resin. The switch contact 29 has two mounting grooves 30 formed at both sides of the rear end of the lower door cap 26.
It is adapted to be selectively mounted in one of the mounting grooves 30 corresponding to the mounting position of the door switch. Here, the mounting grooves 30, 3 of the door cap 26
As shown in FIG. 4, 1 is formed by cutting out both sides of the rear end of the inner surface.

On the other hand, the switch contact 29 has two upper and lower holding pieces 29a and 29b for mounting the switch contact 29 on the lower door cap 26 by sandwiching the mounting grooves 30 and 31 from above and below as shown in FIG. , These holding pieces 2
It is adapted to be attached to the rear end of the door cap 26 by holding the attachment grooves 30 and 31 with 9a and 29b.

When the switch contact 29 is attached to the lower door cap 26 as in the present embodiment, one of the holding pieces 29a and 29b is provided with a locking claw 32 at the tip of the upper holding piece 29a. Yes, 29 per switch
When attaching the locking claw 32,
The switch recess 29 is prevented from coming off by elastically locking the locking recess 33 formed in the inner part of the switch.

By the way, after the switch contacts 29 are mounted in the mounting grooves 30 and 31 in this manner, the door frame 28 is fitted with a fitting groove 34 provided at the rear end of the inner surface of the lower door cap 26, as shown in FIG. It is fitted to. In addition,
The fitting groove 34 is formed by a fixing rib 34 a provided upright on the lower door cap 26 and a flange 34 b formed at the rear end of the door cap 26.

When the door frame 28 is fitted into the fitting groove 34 of the door cap 26 in this manner, the upward movement of the locking claw 32 of the switch contact 29 in the engaging / disengaging direction can be restricted. As a result, the switches 29 attached to the attachment grooves 30 and 31 can be held so as not to come off.

After fitting the door frame 28 in this way,
The foamed heat insulating material 4 is foamed to form the heat insulating door 21,
Due to the foaming of the foamed heat insulating material 4, the door frame 28 is fixed, and the switch contact 29 is also fixed to the rear surface of the heat insulating door 21. And like this, 2 per switch
By holding 9 with the door cap 26 and the door frame 28, it is not necessary to fix the switch contact 29 with a screw as in the conventional case, so that the assembling work can be reduced.

Here, when the switch contact 29 is selectively installed in the one mounting groove 30 as described above, there is no problem because the mounting groove 30 is blocked by the switch contact 29. Further, since the other mounting groove 31 is formed so as to be located on the rear surface of the heat insulating door 21, it cannot be seen unless the rear surface of the heat insulating door 21 is looked into, so it is necessary to close it with another member as in the conventional case. Since this eliminates the need for assembly, the number of assembly steps and the number of parts can be reduced.

Next, a method of forming the heat insulating door 21 having the above structure will be described.

When the heat insulating door 21 is formed, first, as shown in FIG. 4, upper and lower door caps 25 and 26 are provided on the upper and lower ends of the outer panel 22 (note that only the lower door cap 26 is shown in the figure). Tie on, then 2 per switch
As shown in FIG. 5, 9 is provided in one of the two attachment grooves 30 and 31 of the lower door cap 26, and the engagement claw 32 provided in the upper holding piece 29a is provided in the attachment groove 30. The switch contact 29 is attached to the lower door cap 26 by pushing it in until it is elastically engaged with the locking recess 33.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4, after the door frame 28 is fitted into the fitting groove 34 provided in the lower door cap 26,
Through the door frame 28, the outer panel 22 and the door cap 2
The inner panel 24 is attached to 5, 26. The locking claw 3
2 is locked in the locking recess 33 of the mounting groove 30, and
By fitting the door frame 28 to the rear end of the inner surface of the lower door cap 26, the switch contact 29 allows the door frame 28 and the door cap 2 to be attached.
It is held by 6 and does not come off from the lower door cap 26.

On the other hand, after the outer shape of the heat insulating door 21 is formed in this manner, the outer surface of the heat insulating door 21 is covered with a jig (not shown), and then the foamed heat insulating material 4 is foamed inside the heat insulating door 21. The heat insulating door 21 is formed. After the heat insulating door 21 is formed in this way, the packing 27 is attached to the door frame 28.

By the way, after the heat insulating door 21 thus formed is attached to the freezer compartment 6 and the vegetable compartment 7,
When it is pushed all the way to close the front openings of the freezer compartment 6 and the vegetable compartment 7, as shown in FIG.
Hits the switch button 35a of the door switch 35 provided at the opening edge, whereby the door switch 35 is turned off, and the cold air circulation fan 11 that has been driven until then to circulate the cool air in the room operates. It will come to a stop.

On the other hand, the heat insulating door 21 is pulled out and the freezer compartment 6 is opened.
When the front opening of the vegetable compartment 7 is opened, as shown in FIG.
As shown in, the switch contact 29 is disengaged from the switch button 35a of the door switch 35 and the door switch 35 is turned on, whereby the cold air circulation fan 11 restarts operation.

It should be noted that the mounting groove 31 is not hidden, since the mounting groove 31 is not mounted on the other mounting groove 31 as shown in FIG. 31 is a heat insulation door 2
Unless you look into the rear side of 1, you can't see it, so you can't see it.

In the above description, the case where the switch contact 29 is held by the door frame 28 and the door cap 26 and then the foam insulating material 4 is foamed to fix the switch contact 29 has been described. The invention is not limited to this. First, the heat insulating door 21 is formed, and then the switch door 29 is formed.
May be inserted into the mounting grooves 30 and 31 and held by the door frame 28 and the door cap 26.

In this case, the door frame 28 contacts the flat upper surface portion of the door cap 25 shown in FIG.
It is easy to insert 29 per switch without blocking 31. Further, once 29 of each switch is inserted, the locking claw 32 is provided with the locking recess 33 of the mounting groove 30, 31.
Since it is elastically locked to the switch cap 29, it does not come off from the door cap 26.

[0037]

As described above, according to the invention of claim 1,
By forming notches on both sides of the inner surface rear end of the upper door cap or the lower door cap to selectively install the switch contact, even if the heat insulating door is opened, this mounting groove is not visible can do. Further, since the switch contact is held by the door cap and the door frame, the switch contact can be easily attached.

According to the invention of claim 2, in addition to the invention of claim 1, at the tip of one of the upper and lower two holding pieces for attaching the switch contact to the door cap by sandwiching the mounting groove from the vertical direction. It is possible to prevent the switch from coming off by engaging the formed locking claw with the retaining groove formed in the mounting groove.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a refrigerator-freezer having a heat insulation door of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the heat insulating door.

FIG. 3 is a bottom side sectional view of the heat insulating door.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a lower portion of the heat insulating door.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing how the switch stopper is attached to the door cap of the heat insulating door.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of an essential part showing a state in which a door switch is turned off due to a switch contact when the heat insulating door is closed.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view of an essential part showing a state where the door switch is turned on apart from the switch contact when the heat insulating door is opened.

FIG. 8 is a side sectional view of a portion of the heat insulating door where the switch contact is not attached.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Main Body 20,21 Insulation Door 25,26 Door Cap 27 Door Packing 28 Door Frame 29 Per Switch 30,31 Mounting Groove 32 Locking Claw 33 Locking Recess

Front page continued (72) Inventor Akira Tokui 2-5-5 Keihan Hondori, Moriguchi City, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Hidefumi Mogi 2-5-5 Keihan Hondori, Moriguchi City, Osaka Prefecture Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A main body of a heat insulating structure having a front opening, and a heat insulating door for opening and closing the front opening, wherein a door switch provided at an edge portion of the front opening is switched according to opening and closing of the heat insulating door. In a refrigerator that controls lighting of an interior light and stop operation of a cool air circulation fan, an upper door cap and a lower door cap that form an upper surface and a lower surface of the heat insulating door, and an inner surface of the upper door cap or the lower door cap. Mounting grooves formed in notches on both sides of the end, a switch contact selectively mounted in the mounting groove for hitting the door switch to perform a switch operation, and on inner surface rear end portions of the upper door cap and the lower door cap. The upper side and the lower side are abutted against each other to form a rear edge portion of the heat insulating door, and a door packing that holds in close contact with the edge portion of the front opening is held in front. Refrigerator insulating door, characterized in that a door frame that holds a per switch with the door cap. 2. A main body of a heat insulating structure having a front opening, and a heat insulating door for opening and closing the front opening, wherein a door switch provided at an edge of the front opening is switched according to opening and closing of the heat insulating door. In a refrigerator that controls lighting of an interior light and stop operation of a cool air circulation fan, an upper door cap and a lower door cap that form an upper surface and a lower surface of the heat insulating door, and an inner surface of the upper door cap or the lower door cap. Mounting grooves formed in notches on both sides of the end, a switch contact selectively mounted in the mounting groove for hitting the door switch to perform a switch operation, and on inner surface rear end portions of the upper door cap and the lower door cap. The upper side and the lower side are abutted against each other to form a rear edge portion of the heat insulating door, and a door packing that holds in close contact with the edge portion of the front opening is held in front. A door frame that holds the switch contact together with the door cap, and the switch contact includes two upper and lower gripping pieces that sandwich the mounting groove from above and below to attach the switch contact to the door cap, and one of the gripping pieces. A heat insulating door of a refrigerator, characterized in that a locking claw that is elastically locked in a retaining groove formed in the mounting groove is formed at a tip thereof.